The Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities (Shanghai Award) was jointly established by UN-Habitat and Shanghai Municipality in 2022. It aims to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda by focusing on SDG11, promoting the localization of SDGs, and incentivizing cities to find systematic solutions for sustainable urban development. Under the general theme of "Building a Sustainable Urban Future for All", the award is organized annually and is open to cities worldwide.

The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour award was launched in 1989 and is one of the world's most prestigious human settlements award. It aims to acknowledge initiatives that have made outstanding contributions in the field of human settlements, provision of housing, highlighting the plight of people living in poverty or who have been displaced, developing and improving human settlements and the quality of urban life to leave no one behind echoing the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 with emphasis on Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. 

The Dubai International Award for Best Practices (DIABP) was established in 1995 under the directive of the late Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to recognize initiatives which have resulted in positive impact on improving the living environment.

Since then, more than 5,000 initiatives, which document various ways of solving economic, social and environmental issues from more than 150 countries have been compiled and disseminated through the best practices database hosted at UN-Habitat.

UN-Habitat is actively engaging with Dubai through different channels such as Expo 2020’s Global Best Practice Programme. The program is platform to showcase projects that have provided tangible solutions to the world’s biggest challenges. This is in line with UN-Habitat’s mandate, to share best practices on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the urban-related dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals with member states and key stakeholders.